The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) has announced a five-year, $46 million partnership with historically Black medical colleges (HBMCs) to advance genomics research and accelerate precision health, particularly for Black people and other people of color.

The CZI Accelerate Precision Health program will invest $11.5 million per institution with the nation’s four HBMCs, Charles Drew University College of Medicine in Los Angeles; Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C.; Meharry Medical College in Nashville; and Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. Precision health is used to predict more accurately what type of care will work for a particular disease in specific populations, and the commitment will support expanded research opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students; the creation of a new Master of Science program in genetic counseling; recruitment of anchor faculty in genomics; and tools for data handling, storage, and analysis.

“It’s important to underscore that for Black Americans, there is a large gap between representation and need in genomics research, and the time is now to support the intersection of genomics and health differences research that will advance science. Research shows that expanding representation leads to innovative discoveries,” said CZI senior science advisor Hannah Valantine. “Actively engaging HBMCs and the communities they serve in genomics research is a necessary approach to harness new perspectives that will fuel creative interdisciplinary research, unleash innovations that have yet to be conceived, and accelerate precision health equity.”

(Photo credit: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative)